One of the things that struck me as funny about when Grace Slick went to her AA meetings was that she said they were held in Napa Valley, the wine capital of the United States. Talk about irony! I'm glad she went though. I think she said that when JA reunited that they joked about how they were all too old to use drugs now except for a joint or two smoked by Paul Kantner.

Susan Butcher wrote:Yay Paul! You're never too old to turn on, you just can't do it so often. (Not that I listen to my own advice.)

Not that I'm advocating the use of drugs or anything, but do you think that Jefferson Airplane's music or any other group's music have been as good if they had not had drugs to inspire and enhance the music that they wrote? But was it just the drugs or the time that they lived in? There are plenty of groups with longevity that, once they stopped using drugs, maintained the quality of the songwriting and the artistry of their music and their are groups that never used drugs that hit it big. I think that groups like Jefferson Airplane and The Doors could easily have written songs just as good without the drugs. I don't know that songs like "White Rabbit" would have gotten written, but "Somebody To Love" would have. I think "Volunteers" would have gotten written without drugs. I think drugs inspired JA, but they didn't need them to write great music. They would have been great with or without drugs. Talent is talent.

I would assume the lyrics would not have been as "radical", nor the beat been so driving / distorted in many of their songs without heavy drug consumption. There sure is a heavy toll on many of the musicians from that time, that we all have to lament as we listen. I never thought above Jorma and heroin before, but he did play with more of a frenzy (and unending sets) in the 80's.

I read an interesting Kantner interview from 1984 where he said he didn't need to take acid any more because he already knew how to "open the door" to where it would take him. He also suggested no one should take acid living in Reagan's America because it would only lead to bad trips!

this is all just a what if thing. i don't really know if JA would have been the same without the drugs. it's doubtful that after bathing at baxters would have ever got made, which would suck. to say "somebody to love" would have been written without drugs is really not possible to know. afterall, darby slick was on acid when he wrote that song.

I'd have thought that taking acid in Lyndon Johnson's America would be just as risky; you'd have to try not to think about napalm. There's always nasty stuff going on in our world, but the place LSD takes you to will never ever change.

After wwII the most riskiest place for taking acid was former Yugoslavia during the wars in 90's.I served in medical corps and I was in blood and flesh up to my neck.I can't imagine what kind of horrible trips I would have had if I used to take acid back in those years.I mainly stayed on booze.People were seeking oblivion and therefore heroin and hashish were the most preferable drugs.While the general population was constantly on benzodiazepines, cocaine and amphetamines were popular among the war dogs and criminals.If it hadn't been for the war we would have been one happy stoned family.

I hope I never get stuck in the middle of a war. I can't even handle blood and guts on a cinema screen. I've been in a couple of minor natural disasters, though, and the difference there is there's no hate. People are high on their natural adrenalin and glad to help each other.

LatherPCL wrote: I think that groups like Jefferson Airplane and The Doors could easily have written songs just as good without the drugs. I don't know that songs like "White Rabbit" would have gotten written, but "Somebody To Love" would have. I think "Volunteers" would have gotten written without drugs. I think drugs inspired JA, but they didn't need them to write great music. They would have been great with or without drugs. Talent is talent.

Definitely true.

A lot of people say that the music all came from the drugs, and I don't really think that that could be true. If it was, wouldn't that mean that anyone could be Jim Morrison or Paul Kantner if they got high?

That just seems wrong to me. I feel like people who could write the kind of music performed by JA and The Doors need to be very intelligent, and very intelligent people sometimes turn to drugs so that they can go even further.